''The Repentant'' (french: La Repentie) is a 2002 French

romantic thriller A romantic thriller is a narrative that involves elements of the romance and thriller genres. A good thriller provides entertainment by making viewers uncomfortable with moments of suspense, the heightened feeling of anxiety and fright. A thril ...

film written and directed by Laetitia Masson, and loosely based on the 1999 novella ''La Repentie'' by Didier Daeninckx. It stars Isabelle Adjani and marked her return to the screen after four years. With supporting roles by

Sami Frey Sami Frey (born Samuel Frei; 13 October 1937) is a French actor of Iranian Jewish descent. Among the films he starred in are '' En compagnie d'Antonin Artaud'' (1993), in which he portrays French poet and playwright Antonin Artaud, and '' Bande ...

and

Samy Naceri Saïd Naceri ( ar, سعيد ناصري, link=no; born 2 July 1961), known as Samy Naceri (), is a French actor known for his work in the four ''Taxi'' films and '' The Code'' (''La Mentale''). Early life and career Naceri was born to an Algerian ...

, Adjani portrays a woman who tries to escape her criminal past. It was released by ARP Sélection on 17 April 2002.

Plot

A young woman picks up a suitcase from the station depot, enters a bathroom and comes out in an elegant dress with black sunglasses. She buys a ticket for the first train traveling to the sea ( Nice). A young man, Karim, follows her and asks the conductor for the direction of the train. Can a woman live a new life with another man, Paul Viard, when a past haunts her?

Cast

* Isabelle Adjani as Charlotte / Leïla *

as Paul Viard *

as Karim *

Aurore Clément Aurore Clément (born 12 October 1945) is a French actress who has appeared in French and English language movies and television productions. Early life She was born Marie-Thérèse Aurore Louise Clément in Soissons. Following the death of her ...

as Blonde woman *

Catherine Mouchet Catherine Mouchet (born 21 August 1959) is a French actress. She studied at the Conservatoire de Paris, following the courses of Jacques Lassalle and Claude Régy. Her performance in the film '' Thérèse'', directed by Alain Cavalier, won her ...

as Alice, the chambermaid * Maria Schneider as Charlotte's sister *

Jacques Bonnaffé Jacques Bonnaffé (born 22 June 1958) is a French actor and stage director. He has appeared in more than ninety films since 1980. Debut Jacques Bonnaffé was formed at the Lille Conservatory after his high school years in Douai (North) where he ...

as Joseph *

Jean-François Stévenin Jean-François Stévenin (; 23 April 194427 July 2021) was a French actor and filmmaker. He appeared in 150 films and television shows since 1968. He starred in the film ''Cold Moon (1991 film), Cold Moon'', which was entered into the 1991 Canne ...

as Man at party *

Isild Le Besco Isild Le Besco (born 22 November 1982) is a French actress and filmmaker. She is of French and Algerian descent on her mother's side, and Vietnamese and Breton on her father's. She has starred in many films, including ''Sade'' (2000), a French ...

as Young prostitute *

José Giovanni José Giovanni (22 June 1923, Paris, France – 24 April 2004, Lausanne, Switzerland) was the pseudonym of Joseph Damiani, a French writer and film-maker of Corsican origin who became a naturalized Swiss citizen in 1986. A former collaborationi ...

as Charlotte's father *

Christian Aaron Boulogne Christian Aaron Boulogne (11 August 1962 – May 2023) also known as Ari Boulogne and Ari Päffgen was a French photographer, actor and writer. Early life Boulogne was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine on 11 August 1962. He was the son of German singer ...

as Man at wedding * Thierry Rode as

Hotel Negresco The Hotel Negresco is a hotel and site of the restaurant ''Le Chantecler'', located on the Promenade des Anglais on the Baie des Anges in Nice, France. It was named after Henri Negresco (1868–1920), who had the palatial hotel constructed in 1912 ...

manager * Claudine Mavros as Paul's mother * Georges Mavros as Paul's father * Farida Amrouche as Charlotte's mother

Production

Laetitia Masson was approached by producers looking for a vehicle to mark Isabelle Adjani's return to the screen. Adjani had established herself as a leading star of French cinema in the 1980s. However, her last appearance was a minor role in '' Paparazzi'' (1998), in which she played herself. Her last leading role was starring opposite Sharon Stone in '' Diabolique'' (1996), a remake of '' Les Diaboliques''. In ''The Repentant'', Masson uses Adjani as her ''

femme fatale A ''femme fatale'' ( or ; ), sometimes called a maneater or vamp, is a stock character of a mysterious, beautiful, and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers, often leading them into compromising, deadly traps. She is an archetype of ...

'' and incorporates themes of mystery and impulsiveness to illustrate the feeling of starting anew. Principal photography began on 21 May 2001, with filming taking place in Paris, the Île-de-France region, Nice and Morocco. It lasted 10 weeks.

Reception

Box office

The film was a modest box-office success in France, selling 85,238 admissions from 138 screens in its first week. At the end of its theatrical run, it sold a total of 137,127 admissions.

Critical response

''The Repentant'' received an average rating of 2.7 out of 5 stars on the French website AlloCiné, based on 21 reviews. Olivier De Bruyn, writing for ''

Première A première, also spelled premiere, is the wikt:debut, debut (first public presentation) of a Play (theatre), play, film, dance, or musical composition. A work will often have many premières: a world première (the first time it is shown anywh ...

'', assessed it as a "hybrid film: absolutely fascinating but a bit frustrating". Gérard Lefort of ''

Libération ''Libération'' (), popularly known as ''Libé'' (), is a daily newspaper in France, founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968. Initially positioned on the far-left of France's ...

'' deemed it a film of "imperceptibility" whose best scenes were those of insignificance. Michel Guilloux of '' L'Humanité'' wrote that the film accumulated clichés and the plot quickly revealed itself empty, to the point of boring the audience. ''

Les Echos Les Echos may refer to: * ''Les Echos'' (France), a French-language financial newspaper published in France * ''Les Echos'' (Mali), a French-language newspaper published in Bamako, Mali See also * Echoes (disambiguation) Echoes may refer to: * ...

''s Annie Coppermann concurred, saying it rendered the audience vaguely bored but admiring the landscapes and faces of Adjani and Frey, and ultimately hoping for a proper return to film for Adjani. François Gorin of '' Télérama'' similarly called it a mess filled with emptiness, but also "impossible to hate". ''

Screen International ''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involved in the global film business. ...

''s Patrick Frater criticized the lack of a deeper examination into the film's themes of "starting over and inventing a past". Frater, however, praised both the "sumptuous" cinematography and Jocelyn Pook's score for lifting the film "above the mean".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Repentant (2002 film), The 2002 films 2002 crime thriller films 2002 romantic drama films 2000s French films 2000s French-language films 2000s romantic thriller films Films directed by Laetitia Masson Films based on French novels Films based on novellas Films scored by Jocelyn Pook France 3 Cinéma films French crime drama films French crime thriller films French romantic drama films French romantic thriller films Films set in Nice Films shot in Paris Films shot in Île-de-France Films shot in Nice Films shot in Morocco Romantic crime films